Stonewater (aka Admore Drive) Project Ready to Begin

The extension of Stonewater Drive, connecting SR 59 to Fairchild Avenue, is finally ready to begin. This particular project got bogged down over a range of utility conflict issues, right of way issues, construction impact issues, bike route issues and even personnel changes but those appear to all be behind us now and the Engineering Division sent out a notice that they are having the pre-construction meeting which means they are close to putting shovels to dirt. There’s already been a lot of shovel lifting going on at the Don Joseph Toyota dealership with their expansion that will be finishing up in a month or so — just in time for the road project to hit high gear. Here’s a summary from the Engineer Division about what comes next for the Stonewater Drive project.

The City is beginning construction of the Stonewater Drive project. The project site is on Stonewater (formerly Admore) Drive and consists of full depth reconstruction of Stonewater Drive from West Main St. to the existing bridge over Fish Creek, concrete curb/gutter, concrete drive aprons, 10’ asphalt multi-purpose path, catch basins and storm sewer, street trees, utility ductbank, traffic signal, signing and marking. A new waterline will be installed from West Main St. to approximately 700 feet north of Fish Creek where it will connect to an existing water line in the Lakes of Franklin Mills subdivision. The construction contract was awarded to Easton Leasing, Inc.

The section of Stonewater Drive from West Main Street to Fish Creek will be closed during most of the construction project. Don Joseph Toyota will be provided access to their car inventory on Stonewater Drive throughout construction. There will be limited lane closings on West Main Street for utility work and traffic signal installation. All lane closures on West Main Street will be limited to the hours of 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A preconstruction meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2009, at 9:00am in the Engineering Division conference room (2nd floor) of the Kent Service Administration Complex, 930 Overholt Road, Kent, Ohio. Should you have any comments or questions please plan to attend the meeting or forward your written comments to the City of Kent Engineering Office.

Some folks have asked about the status of the Kent skatepark that was proposed in the park area adjacent to the Stonewater Drive extension. Just as the street project has hit upon some delays so has the new skatepark. The Parks and Rec Director says it’s still in his project pipeline, he’s just trying to find enough funds to do it right. The one thing we heard over and over from skaters is do it right or don’t do it all — you can’t cheap your way to a new skate park. The Parks folks have adhered to that philosophy and I believe they are targeting $75,000 to make this pipedream into a new half-pipe. I’d think they’d look to do some initial work on the skatepark in 2010.

Also, Parks and Rec have begun to build the new walking paths in this area. They have stockpiled limestone in the parking lots around the new park (donated by the city contractor from driveways at Area Q) and they have begun to spread it out to form the foundation of the new walking trails.